Stomatolog proverava zubni kamenac u stomatološkoj ordinaciji.

Stomatolog means dentist.

A native speaker may also say zubar, which is a very common everyday word for dentist. In many contexts:

• stomatolog = more formal/professional
• zubar = more everyday/colloquial

So in this sentence, stomatolog sounds perfectly natural, just a bit more formal.

Proverava means checks or is checking.

It is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• from the verb proveravati / proveriti = to check

Because Serbian present tense can sometimes describe:

• a general/habitual action: The dentist checks...
• an action happening now: The dentist is checking...

The exact English translation depends on context.

The verb here is built from proveravati / proveriti.

• proverava = present tense, imperfective
• proveri = usually a different form, often tied to the perfective verb proveriti

A useful beginner-level idea is:

• proveravati = checking, repeated or ongoing action
• proveriti = to check something to completion, one finished act

So proverava fits well in a neutral descriptive sentence like this one.

Zubni kamenac is the Serbian term for dental tartar or calculus.

It is made of:

• zubni = dental, tooth-related
• kamenac = tartar, scale, literally related to stone/mineral deposit

So the phrase means something like tooth-related tartar, which is the standard Serbian expression.

It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb proverava.

The dentist checks what? → zubni kamenac

In this sentence, kamenac is a masculine inanimate noun, and for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: zubni kamenac
• accusative: zubni kamenac

That is why the form does not visibly change here.

Because after u meaning in, Serbian uses the locative case.

The base form is:

• stomatološka ordinacija = dental office / dental practice

But after u when it means in, it changes to locative:

• u stomatološkoj ordinaciji

Breakdown:

• stomatološka → stomatološkoj
• ordinacija → ordinaciji

This happens because ordinacija is:

• feminine
• singular
• in the locative case

And the adjective must agree with the noun.

Because it agrees with ordinaciji.

In Serbian, adjectives must match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• noun: ordinaciji
• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: locative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular locative:

• stomatološkoj

This is why you see the -oj ending.

They are related, but they are different parts of speech.

• stomatolog = a noun meaning dentist
• stomatološki / stomatološka / stomatološko = an adjective meaning dental

So:

• stomatolog = the person
• stomatološka ordinacija = the dental office

They come from the same root, but they do different jobs in the sentence.

Because Serbian normally does not use articles like English a/an/the.

So a sentence like:

• Stomatolog proverava zubni kamenac...

can mean, depending on context:

• The dentist checks the dental tartar...
• A dentist checks dental tartar...
• The dentist is checking the tartar...

English needs articles, but Serbian usually leaves that information to context.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English because cases show grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

• Stomatolog proverava zubni kamenac u stomatološkoj ordinaciji.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• U stomatološkoj ordinaciji stomatolog proverava zubni kamenac.
• Zubni kamenac stomatolog proverava u stomatološkoj ordinaciji.

These alternatives may sound more marked or emphasize different parts of the sentence, but they are grammatically possible.

Some useful pronunciation points:

• š = like sh in shoe
• ž = like the s in measure
• č = like ch in church
• ć = also somewhat like ch, but softer than č

From the sentence:

• stomatološkoj → the š sounds like sh
• ordinaciji → the cij part is pronounced roughly like tsi-yi depending on accent and speech rhythm

A rough English-style approximation of the whole sentence is:

stoh-mah-TOH-log proh-VEH-rah-vah ZOOB-nee KAH-meh-nahts oo stoh-mah-toh-LOSH-koy or-dee-NAH-tsee-yee

This is only approximate, but it can help at the beginning.

Not exactly, but it can overlap in meaning.

Ordinacija usually means:

• office
• practice
• consulting room
• a place where a doctor or dentist sees patients

So stomatološka ordinacija is often best translated as:

• dental office
• dental practice
• sometimes dental clinic, depending on context

If you want the most literal everyday translation here, dental office is a very good choice.

Yes, in some contexts, but the nuance changes.

• proverava = checks, verifies
• pregleda = examines, inspects

So:

• Stomatolog proverava zubni kamenac = the dentist is checking the tartar
• Stomatolog pregleda zubni kamenac = the dentist is examining the tartar

Both can work, but pregleda may sound a bit more medical/clinical, while proverava focuses more on checking.

Because stomatolog is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

The sentence answers:

Who is checking? → stomatolog

That is why it stays in its dictionary form:

• stomatolog

In contrast:

• zubni kamenac = object
• u stomatološkoj ordinaciji = location

So each part has a different grammatical role, and Serbian shows that through case.